Doomed from the start
by Phantomhawk-writer
Summary: Hera was the black sheep. Over the years she learned to act , to not be herself. She is the daughter of Kronos , wife of Zeus , queen of gods , goddess of marriage. She simply is what she is expected to be and damning herself in the process.
1. Acting at the start

_**Doomed from the start**_

Hera loved the arts from the moment on she first heard her mother Rhea sing, dance and tell her a story.

But most of all she loved acting.

**Turns out that practise makes perfect and the only thing Hera was ever good at is acting.**

For her it was a way to escape harsh reality with a distant cruel father and her wild brothers and the sister who disliked her.

It was easier pretending that she was someone, that everything was fine.

She couldn't deal with reality.

Hera wanted her perfect life she always pretended to have.

Siblings who included her in their games , a father who loved her.

But of course most important of it all – she wanted a husband and children who would love and adore her.

So of course when her mother told her that she was going to get another sibling she had dared to hope.

Hope for someone who would play with her.

„ _Are you exited that you will have a new sibling?"_

„_Of course mother! I will help her and sing to her and love her with all my heart!"_

„_Her?"_

„_Of course it's going to be a daughter. You want a daughter and father said so to, so it's going to be a girl! The little one is going to make us all happy."_

**Spoilers : Demeter wouldn't bring her anything but heartache.**

Rhea would sing and comb her hair and Hera pretended that everything was perfect.

Acting came easy for Hera.

The smile on her face wouldn't even waver no matter how bad she felt.

_Kronos was upset after Demeter's birth._

_He screamed and paced and was even less likeable than usual._

_Hera who had helped her mother give birth to her younger sibling was now cuddled together with her mother and little sibling and pretended not to flinch when her father was directing his anger at her._

„_It was your fault! Hadn't you been born together with your sister I wouldn't have to endure this pain of being a father to weak children - to daughters!You are a disgrace!"_

**Turns out that Rhea had lied : Kronos had only wanted sons. Strong ones whom he could teach important stuff like hunting and ruling his kingdom.**

Acting – the arts - were for weak, good for nothing girls like her , her father loved to say.

Hera just smiled and nodded promising her father to change.

She cried for two days in her room at night.

Her older twin – Hestia – pretended not to notice.

_Demeter had destroyed their fathers favorite pottery._

_Hera's heart ached for her younger sister._

_Their father was already agitated and Demeter made it just that much worse._

_Kronos had hit her and screamed at Rhea to stop pampering their children. _

„ _You are too nice to them! This way you take even the little worth they have!"_

_Hera didn't see Demeter after that._

Her father liked Hestia more than her.

That didn't surprise Hera, her sister was more of a boy than a girl.

She knew she could never compare to her siblings, especially not Hestia.

Her older twin was the favorite which made her all the more special as their father hated girls.

So what sense would try make?

Her smile turned icy.

_One night their father had them brought to his throne._

_His eyes were wild and he looked like he hadn't slept in ages._

„_Who of you dares to defy me!"_

_Her fathers loud demand echoed around the room._

_Kronos looked anything but sane._

_Her fathers eyes came to rest on Hera._

_She had been scared, afraid, petrified – but it didn't show._

_Her father detested weakness even more than girls, so she wouldn't show any._

_And really, what kind of actress would she be if she forget her part under the slightest pressure._

_Deep down she knew what was coming since the day Demeter vanished._

_She hid her feelings behind her smile._

_There is no way to kill a god, so Kronos did the next best thing._

_He devoured her and her siblings._

_Because really what over way was there for Kronos to keep them under his constant watch?_

_She saw sweet, little Demeter again._

**The secret : While they their trapped in their father's stomach Hera started to grow ever so fond of her siblings and they returned the notion as Hera changed the act.**

_**She wouldn't change what happened as it brought her closer to her family.**_


	2. the golden boy (Zeus)

_The golden boy_

The inside of the stomach was way to small of a space to fit all of them together comfortably.

Hera was already looking forward to the day she would get out of it.

**Let's be serious : her father was a rubbish ruler. Sooner or later somebody was going to kill him.**

The day came sooner than expected, later than hoped.

Her younger brother saved them.

All the bottled up emotions that getting swallowed instilled in Hera had her pick her brother up, cuddle him and enquire his name.

She appeared happy.

**Reality check: she hated her mother this very moment for putting her little bother Zeus, appearing as a 5 years old up to this. Hera would have loved to scream her lungs out. But they were free and she supposed had to enjoy it, so she was.**

Zeus had a plan to topple the titans.

Hera was against it.

The idea of war didn't scare her after all she lived through.

Actually it was that they were hopelessly outnumbered and unpowered that had her objecting.

If Hera was going to fight in a war she wanted to win.

Her brother was to cute and naïve and trusting for this world.

Hera had no trouble to convince him to gather allies first.

They all agreed that this would be her task but for different reasons.

**Hera was more perceptive than she was given credit for. She was the only one of them who had a good idea who would join them. But she wasn't brave enough to discuss that out loud.**

Zeus had objected to her going alone.

So Hera and Zeus went from house to house and made more allies than Hera would have imagined.

Zeus wasn't just adorable.

He was also strong and convincing.

When they returned was nothing left to do and Hera hated it.

Her nerves were getting the best of her and had her pacing, keeping her grip secure on Zeus small hand.

Turns out that her brother did most of the war preparation before breaking them out of their gross prison.

In a morning hours they could go and collect their armory and weapons from the blacksmiths, whoever they were.

After that the war would begin.

**Even through she would never voice it, Hera wanted Zeus to wait the war out. He was too young for this mess. But the determination in her younger brothers eyes kept her mouth tightly shut. Even if she saw that his only reason for it was the glory of killing their father which was the worst reason possible to do this.**

When the war began Hera made sure to keep close to Zeus.

Her brother was too young to do this and Hera had too little experience with a sword.

She figured that most she would do would be sacrificing herself for the life of her brother.

After all someone with so little skill with a sword wouldn't survive a war,now would she?

Her fears were unreasonable however.

Who would have thought that Zeus was that good with his spear , lightning bolt – thingie?

However her skills were even worse than thought.

She would change that in the future she told her siblings.

**She was the dead weight – her siblings had to save her countless times. Hera wished she died there on the battlefield. In her opinion this was better than burdening her family with saving her. At the same time she didn't and promised herself with her entire being that she would find a way to repay them. That she would find a skill with which she could save them, and of course improve her fighting skills, so this wouldn't happen in the future.**

They won.

After days, years on the battlefield they won.

Hera had no problem bowing her head to Zeus when he proclaimed himself king.

That was after he and their brothers divided the realms of the planet by drawing lots.

Hera mixed them and held them out to the brothers to choose.

Zeus was the first to pick.

He only looked at the lots for a moment before staring straight into Hera's eyes before picking one.

He certainly was deserving of it and Hera wouldn't begrudge him his victory.

Besides he was also a better choice than Poseidon, her moody older brother.

Zeus was Hera's king but also her little brother and as such she made him thank everyone who had sided with them.

It took Zeus hours to thank all of them and promise them compensation for the power they lost with Kronos downfall.

Zeus was strong, convincing and fair.

He would make a good king.

**Hera refused to object to their new king. Even if her oldest brother , calm and capable Hades would have been a better choice. Hera had witnessed Zeus cruel streak which would someday come back to haunt them.**


End file.
